Seasonal hunger and public policy: intersectoral solutions needed

Richard J Deckelbaum directs the Institute of Human Nutrition at Columbia University in New York City where he holds professorships in nutrition, paediatrics, and epidemiology

While the ongoing effects of climate change are uncertain and will only be revealed over time, the vulnerability and compromised wellbeing of the world’s poor, who remain dependent on rain-fed agriculture, is likely to increase. A panel at the 2016 Consortium of Universities for Global Health (CUGH) meeting broke new ground in describing the intersectoral contributors to, and consequences of, seasonal hunger due to climate change at different levels, from biological implications to rural livelihoods to social unrest. This blog is a brief summary of those discussions and the novel interdisciplinary considerations that will be required to solve or diminish the risks of this pervasive problem.

In regions of the world where there is a marked dichotomy between wet and dry seasons caused by mono-modal rains, there can be a profound linkage between these environmental variations (“seasonality”) and numerous aspects of human biology and even survival. Some of these influences can persist for generations and bear down on the very process of human evolution through effects on fertility selection.

Fundamentally, seasonality affects the principle drivers of nutrition. Food access, along with nutritional quality, is highly dependent on the seasonal climate and is essential for good nutrition. Yet seasonal hunger is poorly understood. No estimates are compiled and limited evidence exists on prevalence, causes, and impacts. One study, however, which used recent data from the Malawi Integrated Household Panel Survey showed that over half of rural households and a third of urban households reported experiencing hunger in the pre-harvest months, with female-headed households more likely to suffer. In Malawi, the main maize harvest usually begins in late March or early April, with food stores lasting for most households through October. After this time food scarcity and rising prices affect both urban and rural households. Such circumstances can erode household resilience and lead to violence and conflict. Acting alone or together with other household characteristics, such as distance to the nearest road, household size, and age, gender, and education of the household head, these seasonal drivers are a significant cause of global hunger.

Hunger diminishes wellbeing directly, but coping responses such as skipping meals or eating less, acquiring debt through purchasing food on credit, borrowing money to buy food, or selling assets such as livestock, are likely to have both short- and longer-term consequences. For example, in Malawi, 1 month of seasonal hunger is associated with a household harvesting its crop approximately 7 days earlier than a household experiencing no seasonal hunger. This finding has implications both for household nutrition and for household incomes. Interestingly, planting “off-season” or permanent crops that might be harvested during the lean months is associated with more months of seasonal hunger, suggesting this is a coping mechanism adopted by households more likely to experience seasonal hunger.

Child growth is also highly affected by seasonality, with very poor (sometimes null) growth in the rainy season. The result of this low growth rate and lack of nutrition is a rise in illnesses that in turn place a burden on health systems. In rural areas, these problems are compounded by seasonal effects on the work and social environment, which can affect time allocated to child care and infant feeding practices. Seasonality also affects disease prevention activities such as vector control as well as health care facilities, which may experience increased demand associated with an unusually wet or warm season. Furthermore, the living environment, including sanitation and safe drinking/cooking water, may be strongly influenced by seasonal floods or droughts.

Climate change is becoming prominent in the current development agenda, motivated by a community that seeks justice for those who are most vulnerable to its impact, yet who have contributed least to its cause. Understanding the current impact of seasonal climate is key to understanding what changes may be underway over longer time frames. Indeed seasonal hunger may be the primary indicator of population vulnerability to climate change. Once seasonal drivers are well understood then we can look at how seasons might vary from one year to another and then how they may shift over time.

Seasonal intervention points, year-to-year anomalies, and longer-term trends can be better identified using climate information. Recent advances in the development of high-resolution, quality-assured climate data from countries in Africa have opened the way to a better understanding of the local climate, its recent history, and its potential predictability. This kind of detailed knowledge is the key to a better understanding of current vulnerabilities to climate and provides the basis for future scenarios associated with preventing the adverse effects of climate change. Moving forward towards implementing successful policies and approaches to seasonal hunger, better matrices describing the interdependence of the multiple contributors need to be established, understood, and acted upon.

Contributors to this blog and to the 2016 CUGH session on seasonal hunger are: Andrew Prentice from the London School of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, Leigh Anderson from the University of Washington, Jessica Fanzo from Johns Hopkins University, and Madeleine Thomson and Richard Deckelbaum from Columbia University.

All thank Mary Pasquince of Columbia University for helping coordinate the written summaries from each contributor into a single integrated paper.

Comments

One research area germane to this phenomenon is the effects of cycles of hunger on long-term health. As you stated, food insecurity has adverse effects on immunity and, for children, cognitive development. The economic consequences of food insecurity may manifest themselves in the future labor force and its ability to be effective and efficient.

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